Hasp-fastener



(No Model.)

HASP FASTENER.

m y m W %/7 m P 1 Mi m] J v ,9 WW m 6 JOHN A. MGsI-IER, or CHICAGQILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR 'ro "PATENT OFFICE.

THE ADAMS &

WESTLAKE COMPANY, 01 ILLINOIS.

, HASP-FASTEN ER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 605,645, dated June 14, 18 98.

A Application filed January 26,1898. Serial No. 668,089. I (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN A, MOSHER, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hasps, of which 1 the following is a specification.

The invention relates to hasps for secu ring the covers of boxes, such as camera-cases and the like; and its object is to provide a secure fastening for such a cover, which includes a spring member adapted to be brought to a tension in the act of locking and which automatically locks itself against the strain due to an effort to lift the cover, while it may be easily disengaged without the use of 'a key.

The invention consists in a shouldered latchpiece secured by means of a link-plate to an elastic attaching-plate adapted to. be fixed to the cover of the box, the latch-piece being adapted to entera socketed plate fixed to the body of the box and to thereby bring the elastic plate to a tension, the pivotal point of attachment to the link being carried beyond the engaging shoulders, so that strain incident to the lifting of the cover of the box tends to draw the latch-piece into the socket.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a detail elevation of a'box, showing the cover closed and the hasprnade fast. Fig. 2 is a detail sectionalview on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a rear or inside elevation of the hasp removed from the box. Fig. 4 is a detail plan View of the box-cover with the latch-piece of the hasp extended and in the position it assumes as it is about to engage the socketplate. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the attachingplate and'the latch-piece, the. latter being fully extended. Fig. 6 shows a plan View and an elevation of the socket-plate removed from the body of the box. Fig. 7 is a detail sectional view on'the line 7 7 of Fig. 1, and Fig. 8 is a detail sectional view on the'line 8 8 of Fig. l.

A portion ofthe body of the box is shown at A, and aiportion of the box-cover at B. The attaching-plate of the hasp is shown at O and is secured to the cover of the box by means of nails or screws, as c. The socketplate for receiving the latcl1-piece of thehasp is shown at D and is intended to be secured to the body of the box by nails orscrews, as d.

The latch-piece E of the ha'sp is attached to the plateO bymeans of a link-plate F, the outer end of the plate 0 being curved downwardly and inwardly to secure a pintle C, upon which the link-plate F swings.

The latch-piece E is oblong in its general contour and has at each side a downwardly or inwardly projecting flange or wing e, between which is fixed the pintle f, by means of which the latch-piece E is secured to the link-plate F, this pintle being located back of or below the plane of the body portion of the latch-piece. The heel of the latch-piece E extends backwardly beyond the pintle fand is bifurcated or apertured to accommodate the link-plate F, so that the latch-piece may be thrown backwardly beyond the plane of the latter, as plainly shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 7. The two end pieces of the heel of the latch-piece are shouldered, as indicated at g.

The recess of thesocket-plate D hasa general conformation of, and is adapted to receive the latch-piece E and is prolonged upwardly through the end of .the plate D, as shown at H, to receive the link-plate F. The link-plate F being of less depth than the body portion of the latch-piece E, the recess H is of less depth than that portion of the recess adapted to receive the latch-piece, thereby forming a pair of shoulders at the upper end of this recess, as shown at h h, and these shoulders project downwardly over the major portion of the recess.

In securing the hasp the body portion of the latch-piece E is thrown backwardly to the position shown by do'tted lines in Fig. 7 and shoulders hh, strain incident to an effort to open the cover of the box tends to draw the latch-piece farther into the recess of the socket-plate.

The attaching nails or screws 0 are preferably located at the inner end of the attaching-plate O. The outer end of each normally rises slightly from the surface of the boxcover, and its attaching-plate is, when this form of construction is followed, of spring metal. The strain incident to the throwing of the latch-piece E into the recess of the socket-plate draws the outer end of the plate C downwardly, and the elasticity of the latter therefore maintains a constant strain upon the latch-piece, thereby preventing it from rattling loose. This construction is of advantage also in that the elasticity of the plate 0 will take up the wear of the shoulders g 7L.

The recess of the socket-plate D may be extended downwardly, so that it will be a little longer than the latch-piece E, so that the user may insert his thumb-nail under the end of the latter for the purpose of disengaging the hasp.

I claim as my invention 1. In a hasp the combination with a socketplate, and a latch-piece adapted to hook into the recess of the socket-plate, of an attaching-plate having a spring-shank, and a link connecting the latclrpiece with the attachingplate.

2. In a hasp, the combination with a hingeplate having a spring-shank, and a socketplate having overhanging shoulders at its upper end, of a latch-piece adapted to be caught under the shoulders of the socket-plate and a link for uniting the latch-piece with the shank.

. The combination with a socket-plate having an overhanging forwardly projecting shoulder, and a hinge-plate adapted to be scoured in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the socket-plate and having an elastic shank normally curved outwardly from its plane of attachment, of a latch-piece adapted to enter the socket -plate and being constructed to engage the shoulder thereof, and a link pivotally attached to the outer end of the hinge-plate and to the latch-piece intermediate of its ends, the pivots of the link being both within the plane of the shoulders of the socket-plate when the parts are in engagement, substantially as described and for the purpose specified.

JOHN A. MOSIIER.

\Vitnesses:

Ilnsrnn l3. BAIRD, LoUIs K. GILLSUN. 

